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lol....my point was all rider fans were saying "Those players are all going to want raises, good luck with that Walters" Sounds like he's really contemplating retirement. And who can blame him? Going out on top isn't always possible and this is likely his only chance.

We bring in extra protection all the time, it doesn't matter when the middle of your line goes "OLE!" And you got no targets to dump the ball quick. We need to use less blockers and have more receiving targets. Beat pressure with quick completions not protection for slow developing plays.

You’re really good, and consistent might I add, at writing these types of posts.

yeah he said he allots certain amounts to certain position groups, and seems as rigid with that as osh is with his ratio...both should be fluid and adjusted on the fly if need arises or you have an opportunity to upgrade somewhere....missing put on FA guys or letting others go because it doesn't meet what you already predetermined as your ratio...is just dumb...and makes your roster decay...kinda like ours has...

Nield isn't a guy to change much about a receiving corps. Emilus though, yeah I think he's a pretty under rated guy around the league.

Emilus is another guy that I'd love to see Winnipeg add. (I know the Riders will make signing him a priority).

He was back to back then, in 23, we began to see the cracks in Zach's armor resurface, along with his injuries. And the league was catching back up to us. His overall brutal QBing performances here in the playoffs had also just cost us a GC. 236 yards 0 tds 1 int vs 290 yards 3 tds 1 int. We can say no comparison between Faj and Zach, and on that night, it was true. Zach couldn't compare in the least to Faj. He won 2 rings and was in the race for several MOPs as well. That was the ideal moment to move on from Zach. Even if he had a couple strong strong years left in him. He still had value; we could've gotten a very nice return for him and saved money going to brown. I can't see many cases where the CFL team stayed with the old guy.

There is truth to the statement Walters made that we have to surround Zac with more talent. His deterioration has coincided with that of the oline and to a lesser extent the receivers. The only way he turns it around is if he actually gets protection, and the offense as a whole executes some decent game plans

We played the Lions at PAS. Idon;t remember the score but we got smoked. I drove through the night to get to that game. I came by myself & sat with a friemd of mine as he had two season tickets. He left & went home. I went back to my hotel & checked out at 6am for the 14 hr drive back to Calgary. All I thought about driving back was just how bad the Bomber organization was. What a happy ride back that was.

So why not stfu ,and let the adults talk? Seems like a plan.

Dillon Mitchell and Peyton Logan didn't do much for us, unfortunately, but they were considered decent gets when we picked them up. I suppose Logan is on a 2 yr contract, he may yet pan out. Obviously I'd rather have kept Kenny over the both of them.

In Walter's press conference, he was asked about Zach's deal, and he still thinks Zach is worth 600k. (He unofficially confirmed the 600k, and I assume the 350k ish gaurenteed again) I broke down his playoff stats a couple of years ago, which were even more dismal than I expected. Here is some more fun with Zach's numbers. He has played 31 games in his last two seasons, and during that time, he has averaged 238 yards passing, 1 interception, and 1 touchdown per game. 14 of his 31 games have been under that average of 238 yards passing, 7/31 games have been 300 or more. With 10 games very close to his average. In 24 games out of 31, we see average, or bad Zach. And average Zach is pretty bad. 12/31 gave had more ints than tds. 8/31 games have had more TDs than INTs. His 2 best games of the last year skew his stats by 762 yards, 9tds and 0 INTs. If you remove his 2 best games of last year, his average per game drops to 228 yards per game, and .8 tds per game. If you create a split of good Zach vs Zach the rest of the time over the past 2 seasons, you get this; Good Zach, 2134 yards, 16 tds, 4 ints in 7 games. for 304 yards per game. A full season would be 5,472 yards, 41 tds, and 10 Ints. Common Zach, 5,250 18 tds 27 ints in the other 24 games for 218.75 yards per game. A full season of this Zach would put up 3937 yards, 13 tds, 20 ints. In 7 of Zach's last 31 games, he has been worth 600k. That is very comparable to what BLM and Rourke did this year. In the other 24 games Zach has played, well, you'd be better off taking Fajardo's worst 1.5-2 years. Or any other maligned QB that started in this league currently. Like MBT. 77.4% Zachs games played the past 2 seasons, he's been one of, if not the worst, starting QB in the league. If we fix "X", "Y", and "Z", does that mean we flip those games and see good Zach 77% of the time? Well, we didn't have the worst pass blocking OL over he past 2 years, far from the worst run game, and didn't have the worst WR core. (As dismal as the WR core has been, it has featured guys like Wilson, Demski, and Lawler over 2 seasons.) I don't see us having the ability to get a premium QB this year, even if we weren't locked into Zach. I think the best hope is that if we significantly improve at OC, OL, and WR, Zach will be a coin flip between league average (instead of arguably worst) and MOP. Yep, and when you see the fast turnaround without a year of bad ball, it's because of a QB change. Going from a mccheese to VAJ will flip your fortunes fast.

I watched the presser. My takeaways were different from some of what I read on the board. Walters all but admitted it’s time for a rebuild and set the bar high for this year by saying it can be done quickly. No pay cut for Zach, but that’s partly due to how bad the supports were around him, he said. That suggests there will be hard conversations about the OC, receivers and Oline. He even admitted the Bombers squeaked out some wins despite playing bad football. Only quality wins were over B.C. and Hamilton. That suggests he has his eyes open. The entire organization under achieved this year, except for maybe Vaval and Carol in the ticket office.. It sounds like this season stung the people in charge and course correction is ahead. We will see.

This season the offense was on the entire organization. Walters signed that high priced receiver from Edmonton & Osh barely played him. Damn, at one point we had Chris Streveler playing wideout on a bum knee. We signed Dalton Schoen & he never should have seen the fie;d this season. He was cooked by O'Shea playing him on a torn ACL. Zach was then handec an OC who was the worst in the CFL & now it looks like he'll be back again. We have the worst starting CEnter in the CFL & the OL suffers because of it. I can't blame Collaros. I thin k it's more 65/35 Bombers seem to have become a somewhat dysfunctional organization. If you heard the comments from both Osh & Walters. More of the same coming in 2026.

If you had Demski, Clercius and Nield at WR, you could go 3 american Olinemen and you might be better overall.

With the exception of Kramdi most of these guys aren't making enough over minimum to have a great effect on our SMS. That's not to say we shouldn't move on, but if you think there is meaningful savings letting them go there isn't. I did not include Holm because WTF? The guy is a very good DB. Also you have this huge hate on for Kramdi but he is worth every penny. Every player needs to be replaced by someone even the above and they all get paid salary too. Your savings are only what they are getting above replacement. Kolo won't be replaced for even a dollar less than what we are paying him, Wilson maybe 20-25k we could save with a rookie, Gauthier and Hallet are probably at or close to league min. We don't create meaningful SMS cutting the bottom of our roster. We gotta do it at the top and middle. Again, that's not me saying we should bring back any of those guys, just saying cutting them for SMS reasons isn't going to give us much extra SMS.

If we see Elgersma starting next year something has gone incredibly wrong (injuries or desperation) or incredibly right (he just shows an incredible learning curve and talent). The former would be great but not likely. Our team has pretty much, since 2013 (with the exception of OL) not played rookie NATs in the first year of their contract and bring them along slowly. I think that is just fine. It has served us well and unless someone absolutely jumps off the page it is the best path for their development imo. Could we have given Shay/Smith more time this year? Highly debatable. On one hand, it would be nice to give every rookie meaningful reps, on the other we weren't in a situation to play fast and loose with rookie mistakes. We eked into the playoffs. If we were more secure in the standings my opinion would be different depending on whether or not they showed readiness. Brown showed well but it was a pretty limited sample size, and ZC still looked good....maybe not MOP good, but certainly upper echelon of the league good. I think this is a bad decision in hindsight but it is also the type of decision that could have gone either way. I won't beat up KW for that one. The contract he gave ZC....different story.

If i had that skill.....

Comrie has been pretty solid, but I know what you mean. Milic has real good numbers with the Moose this year, so hopefully that translates. Not sure who’s out there to pick up, if they want to have a look around.

I also like Nield from Sask..thought he came up with some clutch catches..would add depth at least.

Bombers didn't have 45 free agents all wanting a raise after those years. Ya Sask greatly benefited from a healthy Harris this year. That isn't the norm for him either.

I'm not arguing that ZC over Brown was for sure the right call at the time. What I disagree with is that it was a slam dunk that every team would have made the move to Brown. Zach had just thrown 33 TDs in 2023 and narrowly missed out being Winnipeg's MOP nominee. Was back to back MOP in 2021 and 2022. If Dru had one more year on his contract and played like that in 2024 while Zach struggled I'd agree with you.

Trevor Harris is 40 years old and stayed healthy.... we think that's gonna repeat or that he won't fall off a cliff at some point? Or maybe even retire.

To be fair this is what everyone said about the bombers after 2019 and 2021.

One of the lowest points of my Bomber fandom was the game he played for us. I was literally the only person left in my section at the end of that game. Googled his Bomber stats: 8 of 25 for 91 yards and 3 picks.

One year deal so no need to release him.

I’m assuming Mr. Mitchell will be released?

Yeah...was gonna say...unless that was his twin brother with same name lol And in the yr in question...Dolegala had played plenty up to that point ..I guess the yr previous throwing for just under 2700 yards...11 tds vs 9 ints was just pretend and didnt happen and would have no clue how to play QB on a vet laden team...yup... But the poster said he didn't take a snap in 2 yrs. Basically confirming many of his posts are a load of ****

Logan was hurt early and then Vaval took his job & never gave it back- he may have added something if he ever got to see the field. Mitchell was a bust for sure though.

Forgot bout the Don...he was another for sure

I’m not even saying that keep Zach over Dru was the right decision but this is too much. It was absolutely conventional to keep the QB who just won back to back MOPs over the back up that showed well. Rourke was established in BC before VAJ got there. Toronto and Montreal moved on from MBT and Faj not really comparable.

Vaval has good shot at getting an nfl offer in the window though. If vaval is back, i’d dump logan. If he isn’t, id be looking for another proven kr to compete for the spot.

The Don too. But even recently, Bc going with rourke and moving off vaj. Mtl going to alexander, Toronto going to the pest. Even calgary moving blm to give maier a shot. It’s not often in modern times that teams have stuck with the old guy when a new guy steps up. Off the top of my head the last time i remember a groomed guy being given up on for the vet was franklin. Edmonton let franklin go in 17, then after 18 reilly left for a big pay day. Even the riders gave up on zach for faj in 19. Keeping zach over brown was the unconventional decision by modern cfl standards, old cfl standards, pretty much any you pick.

I'd get rid of Logan.

He said two years ago he wasn't tough enough in training camp. Not enough urgency. Then he says last season, he should have taken more of an interest in the day to day coaching of the team. Like how can a head coach with 12 years experience even say these things???? He just sounds totally disengaged. And Miller gave him a 3 year deal as President. Do you want more whine with your cheese? Dolegala had played enough with the Riders. Collaros nearly had his finger sliced off & you're yapping about Dolegala not playing??? At least he could perform. Zach couldn't.

Huh? What am I missing here? What alot of us are talking about is the fatal error that was made in not deploying our healthy back-up QB's. And some here seem to have the ability to peer into an alternate universe that allows them to make the claim that it wouldn't have mattered if we did put in JD or TW we would have still lost the game. Wow, cool skill. And this is all relevant for 2026 in what is the QB plan for this organization if ZC stays healthy and struggles in games, do what we did in 2024, 2025?

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kevin-spacey-says-literally-no-home-working-nightclub-singer-cyprus-rcna244963

I am absolutely in love with AJ Allen as a player. I'm not sure we ever go after that position in FA but I think he's just super intelligent, which is the key to success in this league.

Exposed at Wil? I mean, in pass coverage, we had the most vulnerable Mlber in the league. Or more than a bunch of the DBs were early? Teams around the league started rookie NI lbers this year to great success. Cis kids too, not sort of kind of Canadians like Shay and Smith. Smith played a hybrid DB position,l ike how we use the Sam up here in college, too. Wil isn't some high-risk position; it's pretty much the DH of the D. You can hide an awful lot a Wil and Mac in the CFL. That's why it's become a low-risk risk high-reward position to flip the ratio at. Elgersma is basically our long-term hope at QB. But I do mean long term. He needs to be on the AR and getting some work in practice, but I don't see him jumping into starting. QBs do start sooner than ever, but it would be insane if he even kept pace with the line Rourke set. Where he showed promise as a starter in 21 after being drafted in 19, then was pretty bad in a fraction of a season 24, then really finally cemented him self this year as an elite starter. I will be very interested to see how Elgersma progresses, being a CIS kid who got a pre-season in the NFL, but didn't come up here for the end of year. If he had come here and gotten some grooming on the PR, maybe dressed late, that could've been a real career accelerator. But like Walters said, rookie TC is hard for a QB, and it is also the biggest opportunity for one. Unless he is our short yardage guy, I don't expect to see him take a regular season snap next year.

We should've never been in that position where its dole or wilson in a grey cup lol.

They regularly started more Canadians then they needed to. If they aren't in the running I'd be shocked. I suppose that depends on your definition of "tweaking".

I think he on record saying he allots so much for each position group...so fairly rigid...and maybe time to deviate...same with ratio

speaking of crack hahaha

I don't believe it's that rigid. Just that he knows if he spends $300,000 on a Z receiver that means one of the slot receivers has to be a rookie kind of thing. Pretty standard budgeting.

Yeah...Dolegala had moe experience as a pro..Wilson more experience here....but also the way we run practice and get guys in for reps during season his "experiemce" was basically moot....Either way...a healthy QB would have gave us a better chance than a guy who could barely grip the ball...let alone throw it...Plus the fact he basically has been a non factor in majority of our playoff games for most part anyway...sometimes a switch makes a huge shift in game...we have been on other end of that several times What did ZC give us after he came in with his dangly finger?? I know first pass was picked...but wasnt there a pick 6 as well...fumble...couple of turtling sacks?....I actually shut the game off shortly after the first pick and havnt even watched the finish

basically this...and Dolegala was here more than long enough to run the offence...He also wssnt a raw rookie...had several yrs under his belt...was a starter...he would have been fine.....and better than what ZC could offer Osh just Osh'ed....and it was apparent with other injured guys he kept trotting out...and the fact he wont pull a guy for not getting it done...Other coaches do....The Argo's did with their QB...In Grey Cup...and moments later were hoisting er' up while we wondered what happened O have said it many times here...and stand by it...coaching killed us/kills us.....and if it's just more the same, and so far...looking like it...gonna keep killing us

I would have been ok giving either of our qbs with all of their fingers a chance to finish that game.

I mean do we really need a top down rebuild? There's still some good pieces here, just need to add some stars which could be done in free agency... and then jetison some dead weight. Things aren't as dire as all that yet.

I thought Walters was pretty firm in his desire for change in the presser. A lot of acknowledgement and dissapointment. I suspect change is coming. Basically said hey this is a turning point and it's time for us to wake up

'22 you are obviously going to run it back given you just won a GC. '23 you were a random Chad Kelly away from winning the GC so I could see running it back. '24 You just lost a close one against Montreal. But cracks are starting to form. '25 you absolutely **** the bed against the Argos in the grey Cup. That should have been an indication it was time to shake things up. Instead we brought everyone back again minus Lawler and signed some questionable FAs. Obviously we could have made much better long term improvements in that entire duration. Don't get me wrong. I just think how we went into this year was inexcusable.